Sanctum by Sarah FineSeries: Guards of the Shadowlands #1
Published by: Skyscape on October 1, 2012
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 450
Source: Purchased
Buy on Amazon • Book Details
Rating: ★★★★★
âMy plan: Get into the city. Get Nadia. Find a way out. Simple.â
A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos's best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance—hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn't just anyone—she's determined to save her best friend's soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife.
As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she's captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city's endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn't—the dark city isn't the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.
Oh my god, you guys!!! I did not expect this book to be so amazing. I bought this book completely on a whim. I never do that. I saw an ad for it on my Kindle screensaver, thought “That’s kind of a cool cover,” and bought it. Well, Sanctum blew me away.
I think I’m going to burst if I don’t mention the romance right away, because it was incredible. I didn’t expect a great romance from a paranormal story. Usually when I want a great romance, I look towards contemporaries. But Sanctum has it all: great plot, great world building, and an insanely delicious and jaw-dropping romance. Honestly, the romance does start off a little fast, but I seriously did not care at all. Because Malachi—oh-so-sexy Malachi—is the sweetest, sexiest, most badass of all book boyfriends.
The deep voids of his eyes were surrounded by thick, black lashes and full of confidence and threat. It was as if he’d already assessed my weaknesses and ticked off all the possible ways to kill me, so now he could relax and be friendly.
Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Page 77
“I never said I didn’t want you to touch me! That is exactly the problem. Every time you put your hands on me, I don’t want you to let go.”
Malachi, Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Page 294
“You can be selfish. It makes me feel wanted. And I…” He chuckled softly. “I want you to want me.”
Malachi, Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Page 353
Malachi is sweet, selfless, tender, but also the hot Captain of the Guard that can kill guys with his bare hands. He’s deep and thoughtful, but without being corny or cheesy. So many of the scenes with Malachi—especially towards the end—had me giggling and squealing like a crazy, love-struck girl!
Okay, I’ll attempt to pull myself together and talk about Lela. Lela was a fantastic main character, and extremely likeable (most of the time). She’s strong, sensitive, damaged, and also kicks some ass. I loved her dedication to Nadia. It was just so… admirable. At times it made me feel bad, because I seriously wondered if I would go through all that for one of my friends. I mean, we’d all like to think we would, but if it comes down to it, would we actually give up eternal happiness to travel through hell (with no guarantee that we could go back)? I really think this makes Lela one of the most selfless characters I’ve ever read about.
But the thing I loved most about Lela was how she held her own. She wasn’t a poor, pathetic, wimpy character that needed rescuing. Lela was strong, stubborn, and determined. Sure, sometimes she was a little foolish, or maybe a little too self-sacrificing, but I still loved how independent she was. She makes some incredibly difficult choices that had me sitting there in awe.
Sanctum is one of those books that will have you highlighting every other line. It is riddled with deep, thought-provoking messages about life, death, loss, and love. So many passages forced me to just stop and think for a minute. I swear, you guys, this shit is deep.
They’re so absorbed in their own sadness that they can’t see past the darkness.
Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Page 90
She once told me that everybody carried their secret savages beneath their skin, and some people just covered them better than others.
Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Page 174
I think some people like the disease better [than the cure]. It’s more familiar, and they don’t want to give it up, even once they know they can be healed of it.
Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Page 191
“Mercy is not a right. Mercy is a gift from one to another. It can’t be earned.”
Sanctum by Sarah Fine, Page 368
I kind of expected Sanctum to be good, just because of the high ratings, but I don’t think I expected it to be this good. Sanctum was so imaginative, dark, scary, and provocative. It has a deliciously swoony romance that will bring you to your knees, and is riddled with tough decisions and sacrifices. Book 2: bring it on. (Seriously, I want it now, please.)
The Verdict
Sigh… And BookNook strikes again. I didn’t get past your segment about the jaw-dropping romance before handing my card information to Amazon. Seriously, I think Amazon should cut you a check for all the purchases you’ve inspired… just from me!
In other news, now that that’s all over, I’m super geeked about this book! Malachi (great name). And an abundance of amazing quotes? I’m all over it.
Thanks again for the awesome review. I cannot wait to dive in!
Hahah! 😀 I can’t wait for you to read this Jessie! You are going to LOVE Malachi! *swoons*
Malachi being all sweet and tender sounds amazing. Glad that you were pleasantly surprised by this one, and it brought a great romance. Will have to check this one out.
Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog
Awesome review. I have this one on my TBR and it has been one of those moved back because I wasn’t sure. I think it can start moving up now.
This book sounds amazing!! And for just $3.99 on Amazon, I had no choice but to buy it. Great review! I can’t wait to start reading it
I hope you love it as much as I did!!! 😀
Oh my! *adds that shit to Goodreads NOW*
You made me want to get my hands on the book right this moment! I wish I didn’t have so many I have to read first 🙁
I know the feeling! I am so overwhelmed with books right now! But once you get around to it, I hope you enjoy it! 😀
Hopefully I can get to it in a couple of months! I added it to my ‘for 2013’ list so I know to read it asap. (think I’ll add it to my ‘read asap’ list too haha) I hope I love it as much as you did!
Woot! I’m so glad you liked this one! It’s one of my faves and Malachi is SO SWOON-WORTHY! I loved the original take on the afterlife in this and thought it was all so well crafted. I cannot wait for the sequel now!(: Fantastic review, dear! 😀
I COMPLETELY agree! All the world building was so original and awesome to read about. It was FAB! And omg Malachi. That man is like… phew.. *fans self*
After this review, I just bumped Sanctum to the top of my to-read list. Thanks for the great recommendation, Ashley!
~Meg
I hope you like it Megan!! 😀
After a review like that I went and got the book for my Kindle! Can’t wait to share on the excitement 🙂
So, so glad you love this one! As soon as I finished the book, I kept telling my co-blogger I wanted to keep another Captain of the Guard. When she finished it, she told me not to be selfish and leave Malachi to her, and keep Hector for my own. (Boo, but alright.)
We can’t wait for book 2 either!
Hahaha! Malachi is the best! 😀 I can imagine all the YA bloggers fighting over him. ♥
Ugh, another wonderful review, which means another book in my amazon cart. I do love me some paranormal romance though. Glad you enjoyed this book especially since you bought it on a whim, it would have been awful if you spent money on a random book and ended up hating ti.
Wow, I never even heard of this one until now. I can’t believe how much you liked it. It does sound great. I love the strong heroine and a great romance (big or little) in a paranormal story is really important to me. I guess I will have to look more into this book now.
I think this book would be totally up your alley Jennifer! Dibs on Malachi though.
😀
OOOOOHHHH!!! The swoonalicious badge!!! I love a dark romance… And those quotes… I have to meet Malachi. I will definitely read this one! Thanks for that great review Ashley!
JoAnne I know that you will LOOOVE Malachi!!
Good to hear that you enjoyed the book, I was pretty disappointed in it. I felt as if the characters were too cardboard like and I had several issues with the plot.
Aw I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t like it Sabrina. 🙁 I guess you can’t win them all! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I’m so glad you loved this one, too, Ashley! I was really surprised by how good it was, but I really, really LOVED it. Per the author, the sequel is due out this fall….I can’t wait! More Malachi PLEASE!!! Great review!!!
I agree with you. I didn’t know what to expect when I bought this book to read, but it came recommended highly, so I read it. I loved it. It was so good! Great review!
Holy COW. I WANT. I NEED. I MUST get this book. The end. I’d heard good things, but this? Wow. You blow my mind Ashley. I must have this. Maybe once I’m off ban I’ll borrow it on the Kindle Library. 😀 *spazzes out* It looks like such a yummy book read. Meeeep! Loved your review, and the banner is sizzling!
Happy Tuesday!
XOXO, Inky
OH INKYKINS!!!! I cannot wait for you to read this!! Seriously. I know that you will love Malachi. And then he’ll come between us because we’ll be fighting over who gets to keep him.
True story.
DUDE THAT WOULD BE AMAZING SAUCE. (not the fighting….the hot guy part……*shuts up* I don’t think we’ve ever fought over book men before. Even if we’ve talked about them. HAHA.
That was before Malachi though! I’m just kidding though, we’d never fight! BECAUSE WE’RE AWESOME!
Omg Ashley! I only had to read your first 2 paragraphs before ordering it through Amazon! It sounds amazing & the way you described the romance (which I am a sucker for) had me wanting to know more.
The premise for this sounds wonderful! Thanks for a fab review!! 🙂
I have this one on my kindle but I have yet to read it, I hadn’t heard of it either but Jen @ The Starry Eyed Revue wrote such a great review of the audio book that immediately after I read it I had to go and download it. Your review has made me wanna skip all the other books on my list and get right to it. I also have to add that Malachi just sounds like a sexy name and I can’t wait to read about him!!
Yeah I read Jen’s review too and it was awesome! She always makes me want to give audiobooks a try.
I promise you will LOVE Malachi! 😀